Monday, April 7, 2014

The Oppressed Free Marketeers

Josh Marshall has been trying to figure out why - with a bull market boosting stocks to record highs - we've had so much talk about "Kristallnacht" and "Worse than Hitler" from the Wall Street "Masters of the Universe."

The letter above makes so much sense, because it feeds into what I think is increasingly the way to explain all of American politics today, especially but not exclusively on the Right.

It can be summed up as: "If the facts do not conform to the theory, they must be disposed of."

This is the height of irrationality, but it is a natural human characteristic. If we believe something deeply, then evidence that our beliefs are wrong actually makes people cling to those beliefs more tightly.

Given the ideological nature of the modern GOP, this is going to bite them more.